


The Graveyard Shift

by anothertimeperhaps



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cafe AU, M/M, Oneshot, graveyard shift - Freeform, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-11-01 16:25:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10925580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anothertimeperhaps/pseuds/anothertimeperhaps
Summary: “Armin did his best not to show it, but he felt a rush of warmth spread across his face regardless.Shit, shit.He thought.  Jean’s breath tickled his ear and sent a jolt of shivers down his spine.  His heart hammered in his chest."Working the graveyard shift at an airport cafe is something Armin Arlert is accustom to.  Dealing with his inconvenient crush on his co-worker Jean, however, is decidedly not.





	The Graveyard Shift

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a “Graveyard Shift” prompt from goodguyjean. This one’s for you!

Armin blew a gust of air from his mouth, flipping his bangs out of his face.  It was half past three in the morning, and he was on the clock for another four hours.  Truth be told, he didn’t mind working these late shifts- although it messed with his sleeping schedule, his boss was usually kind enough to give him at least a day in between to recover.  Armin had already accomplished his designated tasks for the night- the floors of the bar were mopped, the dishes done, the till counted, until finally all there was left for Armin to do was to make himself look busy, something he did not currently have the energy for.  Instead, he leaned on the counter, back-first, elbows propping him up, staring blankly at the pristine glass windows of the airport, making note of the occasional plane take off and tracing its blinking lights across the sky until it vanished from his line of vision entirely.  

He gave a low sigh, reaching with one hand languidly underneath the counter where he had a plate of cold fries and a half eaten burger waiting for him.  He pulled out a fry, examining it blankly before electing to Kobe the unappetizing morsel into the trash can.  He checked the clock for the millionth time that hour, watching the second hand tick ever slower and slower.

He snapped abruptly from his reverie when he heard a voice behind him.  “Come here often?”  Armin spun around, coming face to face with a familiar face.  He was tall with a mop of sandy colored hair, grown out slightly in the front but shaved cleanly above the nape of his neck.  The same couldn’t be said of his face, however- the man sported a not-unpleasant looking five o'clock shadow and a face that suggested an easy smile.  His eyes and the angles of his face were sharp- possibly unattractive on another face, but when put together he was nice to look at.  It’s not as though Armin had spent a lot of time looking at him and thinking about these kinds of things, certainly not.  

“You’re late,” Armin huffed in fake indignation, crossing his arms and turning away.  “Our boss will hear of this.”  

Jean moved behind the counter, pushing his phone in front of Armin’s face.  “3:32 am, 3:32!  Armin come on, you know what the parking situation is like here...”  Armin stood firm, facing away from him. Jean sighed in exasperation.  “Okay, if sacrificing my dignity is what it will take to remedy this situation, then so be it.”  He got down on one knee, taking Armin’s hand in his.  “Oh please, I beg of you, look past these two minutes and know that I spent every second of them thinking of how much I wanted to be here with you. You are truly the only person I wish to spend the asscrack of dawn with, so prithee overlook these transgressions.”  He ended the mocking plea with a light kiss on the backside of Armin’s hand.

Armin was trying his best to suppress his laughter, though he turned beet-red in the process, the color spreading across the bridge of his nose to his ears.  He pulled back his hand as though it had been burned, glancing around the lobby anxiously.  “Jean, get up, you’re gonna get us in trouble!”

The sandy-haired man shook his head.  “Not until you’ve forgiven me.  Also there’s practically no one here.”  Jean made a sweeping motion with his hand, indicating the lobby’s emptiness aside from the other shops and restaurant employees.  “Tell me what I’ve gotta do, I hate it when we fight.”  

“I don’t know! I’ll think of something, please, Jean....” Armin said, laughing.  

“Fine.” Jean got to his feet.  “But only because my knees are getting sore and for no other reason.”

Armin chuckled.  He and Jean had been working together for a few months now, and they’d been performing this little dance for nearly as long.  Armin was...attracted, to Jean, there was no denying that.  And he was pretty sure the other man felt the same way.  Or, he probably did.  Armin was no expert on love or flirting by any means, but the way Jean acted toward him...it couldn’t just be him being nice, could it?  These doubts kept Armin from pushing things further.  He liked Jean.  They had fun together.  If he was wrong about him, it would certainly ruin the dynamic they had enjoyed for these past months, and that’s something Armin couldn’t bear to think about.  Even so....he  _ had  _ to know what kind of things he was doing, the reactions he invoked from Armin.  So, either Jean did return Armin’s feelings, or he was just messing with him.  The thought of the latter option made Armin feel anxious, so he kept their relations firmly within the bounds of playful teasing, where no one got their feelings hurt.  Love was messy and distracting, he decided.  

He watched as Jean hopped around the back, whistling lightly as wrote down his clock in time as 3:30AM before closing the book and re-capping the pen, tucking it into his apron.  

“Anything for me to do?” Jean asked.

“Yeah, dial down the pep.  Not all of us have had our morning coffee, you inconsiderate fuck.”

Jean burst out laughing.  “I am so sorry.  I should have known you were tired and grumpy, considering those eye bags are definitely too big for carry-on.”

Armin rolled his eyes.  “Wow.  Rude.  You are officially in the negative for earning my forgiveness now.”  He paused.  “But in all seriousness, I’d get started on a new pot of coffee.  We’ve got a 3:45 coming in and I’m sure we’ll be encountering some jetlagged zombies any time now.”  

“Yessir.”  Jean reached over and gave Armin’s blond hair a ruffle before heading to the storage room for grounds and filters.  

Armin gave him the side eye as he smoothed down his hair, turning his gaze to his phone, which had just lit up with a new text message.  He habitually glanced over his shoulder, the feeling of doing something you’re not supposed to be doing ever present despite the empty condition of the lobby.  Leaning down over the back counter, he heard Jean putz around behind him, the enticing smell of coffee permeating the air as he ripped open the bag and dumped them into the filter.  Armin vaguely heard the  _ whirr _ of the machine as it began its morning task, now fully absorbed into his facebook feed, not noticing Jean come up beside him.

“What’cha lookin at?” Jean murmured, tucking a lock of hair behind Armin’s ear to gain better visibility of his face.  His right hand went to the small of his back, getting closer as he looked over Armin’s shoulder.  

Armin did his best not to show it, but he felt a rush of warmth spread across his face regardless.  _ Shit, shit _ .  He thought.  Jean’s breath tickled his ear and sent a jolt of shivers down his spine.  His heart hammered in his chest.   _ Is this what dying feels like?  _ He thought.  He swallowed, his mouth suddenly gone dry.  Jean’s thumb was lazily brushing against the curve of his spine, rubbing in soft, slow circles, and Armin couldn’t for the life of him remember what Jean had asked to begin with.  He suddenly had the overwhelming desire to turn around, pull him in, and kiss him.  __ He wondered what he tasted like.  Coffee, maybe?  Were his lips soft? Armin had seen him applying chapstick on several occasions, so he was inclined to think so.  Would he pull away, or tug Armin in closer, putting his hands on his back similar to the motions he was making now?  He wondered if he would kiss roughly or more gentle.  Armin flushed.  He knew the answer to that.  Jean put on a front but he was sweet, in his own way.  _ You’re at work, dammit! This is not the time to be thinking about these things!  _ He berated himself.  “Hu-huh?” Armin said.  “What did you say, Jean?” 

Jean gestured to Armin’s hands.  “Your phone, I was curious what is so interesting that Armin Arlert breaks company policy to look at it.”  

“O-oh. Uhm, it’s nothing, my cousin is getting married, that’s all.”  Jean moved his hand from Armin’s back.  Armin felt disappointed, missing its presence already.

“Ah, young love.  It’s an exciting thing, that’s for sure” Jean said with a wink.

_ You...damn you... _ Armin thought maliciously.  “Mmmm...yeah..” Armin refused to look Jean in the eye until his face bore a little less resemblance to a tomato.  

Jean stared at Armin for a few moments, as if he was expecting him to do or say something else.  The moment passed. Jean shrugged, and went back to setting out the creamer and sugar for the red-eyer’s coffee.  

The remaining hours passed much in the way they always did.  Between customers, Jean and Armin would tease each other, and Jean would seemingly find any excuse to touch Armin, whether it was a hand on the shoulder to get his attention or a brush of the fingers to pass something his way.  Armin found his gaze wandering more and more to Jean as he worked the front, chatting with customers and laughing as he handed them their orders.  Occasionally, their eyes would meet, and Armin’s gaze would fall just as quickly.  Armin was slowly going crazy, but these feeling existed alongside a sense of pride that he had about their partnership.  Together, they worked like a well-oiled machine, and in spite of his exhaustion they finished out the morning strong.  Finally, 7:15 rolled around, nearly the end of Armin’s shift, taking him completely by surprise.  

Ten minutes later and Armin started to get ready to go.  He headed to the back storage area, wanting to double check some things there before he headed out.  

“Almost that time?”  Jean’s voice came from the doorway, leaning against the frame.  His arms were crossed casually, an indecipherable expression on his face.

Armin turned to face him.  “Yeah, guess so.”  

Jean stepped forward, giving a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.  “You know, you never did tell me how I could pay you back for this morning.”

Armin stammered, “uhm, I mean, that was a joke, so, don’t think to much about it.  Really.”  Jean took another step closer, and Armin found himself transfixed to the spot.  His heart was racing again, but it became clear he wasn’t the only one.  Jean looked anxious; by now they were standing nearly toe to toe.  The room felt as though all the air had been sucked out of it, and Armin felt a shock when Jean’s hand suddenly brushed against his.  His fingers sought out the spaces between Armin’s, and he conceded them.  The space between them diminished more and more until there was none.  If he was asked later as to who closed the gap between them, Armin wouldn’t remember- the meeting of their lips seemed like falling inward, a similar gravitational inevitability.  Armin sighed into his mouth, squeezing Jean’s hand in his own, cupping his other hand over Jean’s cheek.  Jean snaked his free arm around Armin’s waist, pulling him in, deepening the kiss.  Armin felt dizzy, and by the time they pulled away he felt so giddy he could have started laughing.  

Jean grinned, putting a hand on Armin’s cheek and pulling him close until their foreheads bumped together.  “How come you never did that sooner?”  His voice was low, but there was a teasing tone to it, as always.  

Armin hummed, his eyes still closed.  “I didn’t know that you wanted me to.”

Jean pulled back.  “Wait, really? All these months of me bringing my A game and you never picked up on it? I honestly don’t know what to say.”

Armin winced.  “Well, I mean, in hindsight there were some instances that could have possibly been construed as flirtatious, but-”

“SOME?  Armin, what did you want me to do, hire a skywriter to spell out “KISS ME ARMIN” in the clouds?”

“It would have certainly helped, I won’t lie.” 

Jean shook his head.  “Absolutely unbelievable.  And here I was worried that you didn’t like me that way.  I feel as though I should be compensated for my pain and suffering.”

“Hmm....well maybe I can arrange that.”  Armin raised an eyebrow.  “Would you like to go to dinner with me, Jean?”

Jean grinned brightly.  “I think I can be convinced.”


End file.
